10 Real Life Happy Endings That Became Disturbing Movies

Written and directed by Andrew Traucki and David Nerlich, Black Water was inspired by the true story of a horrific crocodile attack on three young men in Australia in late 2003.

In the film, Grace, her sister Lee and husband Adam hear tales about how large and aggressive crocs in the swamps can be: like thuggish serial killers reincarnated into the bodies of dinosaurs. Rather than put them off any form of waterway for life (you know, like normal folks without a death wish), the idiots actively go looking for them.

It’s at this point that the filmmakers lose the audience, because come on: how are we supposed to identify with these people, whose only defining characteristic is their eligibility for the Darwin Awards? Many-fanged prehistoric death comes for them all except for Lee, the final girl, who manages to shoot the crocodile and get away to live whatever life she has left.

But still, Black Water is a competent, tense horror. David Nerlich disappeared into visual effects, while Andrew Traucki has now made a name for himself making monster movies about apex predators: The Reef is about a shark stalking a reef, The Jungle is about a monster stalking a jungle, The Pub is about a racist alcoholic scaring away all the regulars at your local.

Of course, in real life only one of the boys was killed. The other two simply waited in a tree until the crocodile got bored and they were rescued.

But who’d make a movie out of that?